Category: General News

General News

Sewa-III to NHPC: Govt shelves proposal

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Facing criticism, Jammu and Kashmir Government has given a quiet burial to the proposal to handover State-owned Sewa-III hydropower project to National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) for operations, sources told  KP on Tuesday. The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) – Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) Government in its earlier stint had made the offer to the power giant NHPC to operate and maintain the project located in Kathua district, following the visit of power Minister Nirmal Singh and his Commissioner/Secretary to the project site on January 4 this year. KP had exclusively…

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Don’t give special treatment to kin of babus : CM

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Taking a serious note of unpunctuality in government offices, Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti has issued directions that attendance of all employees should be checked thoroughly and without any consideration given to anyone related to persons holding high public offices. She has also directed that no ‘special treatment’ should be given to such persons for availing benefits and accessing services available to the citizens under the framework laid down. “In order to ensure punctuality in government offices and for promoting a transparent work culture, the Chief Minister has directed that attendance…

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Amitabh Mattoo named advisor to Mehbooba Mufti

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The Jammu and Kashmir government on Wednesday named noted academic Amitabh Mattoo as an advisor to Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti with the status of a cabinet minister, official sources said. Mattoo also served as advisor to chief minister Mufti Muhammad Sayeed, who died on January 7. A Kashmiri Pandit, his parents did not leave the Kashmir Valley after militancy erupted in 1989-90 and his mother continued to teach in a local college till her retirement. During his last tenure as advisor to the chief minister, Mattoo did not draw any…

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NIT issue rocks Parliament

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Cong claims atrocities in Srinagar institute; Govt, Owaisi reject contention With the Congress raising the issue of “police atrocities” on the NIT campus in Srinagar and deployment of central forces, the government, while rejecting the accusation, claimed that a decision on sending paramilitary personnel was done after receiving requests from the state government and NIT authorities. Accusing the Jammu and Kashmir Police of acting “brutally” against the protesting students of the NIT during Question Hour in the Lok Sabha, Congress MP Jyotiraditya Scindia claimed that they had resorted to a…

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Explain purpose of your outside tours: Govt directs bureaucrats

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The administrative heads of State Departments would now onwards require explaining to the Government the purpose of their tours outside the State after it has come to fore that many bureaucrats would leave the headquarters for “personal visits” which would hit the work in the civil secretariat, the highest seat of governance in Jammu and Kashmir. An order issued by the General Administration Department (GAD) said the administrative Secretaries have been instructed from time to time for submission of their “tour notes” soon after the arrival from the outside State…

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Govt to reward Amarnath land row architect

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Controversial bureaucrat Arun Kumar set to head SWRRA The State Government has cleared the decks for rewarding the bureaucrat involved in the controversial transfer of State land to the Amarnath shrine board in 2008 and accused of involvement in the solar lights scam of 2009. According to sources, the controversial bureaucrat, Arun Kumar, presently Director General of the Jammu and Kashmir Institute of Management and Public Administration and Rural Development (IMPARD), a post equivalent in status to the IAS cadre post of Chief Secretary for the period held by him,…

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Rana accuses PDP, BJP of polarisation

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National Conference (NC) provincial president Devender Singh Rana has assailed the PDP-BJP coalition for sowing seeds of discord and perpetrating polarisation by bringing regions and communities eyeball to eyeball as per their sinister strategy. “There is a huge contradiction between words and actions of the coalition partners,” Rana said on Monday. He was addressing NC provincial vice-presidents and district presidents of Jammu province. He referred to the deceptive posturing of the alliance partners. He said they claimed to unite the regions and bridge the gap between different segments of society,…

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Take bold steps to resolve Kashmir issue, Hurriyat Conference urges India, Pak PMs

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Hardline Hurriyat Conference, led by Syed Ali Shah Geelani, on Tuesday appealed to Prime Ministers of India and Pakistan to take bold steps to resolve the Kashmir issue for peace, prosperity and development in the sub-continent. “We appeal to the Prime Ministers of India and Pakistan to shun the traditional and ceremonial ways and take bold steps to resolve long standing Kashmir dispute,” Hurriyat said in a statement here. It said Hurriyat is neither against the dialogue nor against the cordial relations between India and Pakistan but “our stand is…

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Road network key to economic growth : Mehbooba

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Mehbooba calls for effective coordination between agencies to complete highway projects Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti today described connectivity as a prerequisite for bolstering economic growth and called for more effective coordination between various agencies so that work on various prestigious road projects in the state was carried forward with greater urgency. She said constructing roads on the rugged terrain in a hilly state like J&K was a daunting task and sought the Centre’s active support in removing hurdles in the completion of the projects. The Chief Minister said this today…

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HC slams JK Govt: ‘You need people only during voting; then you don’t care for them’

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Underscoring that there is no Food Testing Laboratory worth the name in Jammu and Kashmir, the High Court on Monday observed that it appears people in the state are made to “consume adulterated food.” “There is no food testing laboratory worth the name under Jammu and Kashmir Food Safety and Standards Act in the state. It appears that people of the state are made to consume adulterated food,” a division bench of Justice Muzaffar Hussain Attar and Justice Ali Muhammad Magrey said. “All those responsible to check this adulteration probably…

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